ART & LIES: A PIECE FOR THREE VOICES AND A BAWD.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.[Complete number line 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2.] FINE-/NFINE. No owner inscrptn and no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean,glossy,wrap-around colour pictorial artwork painting - Massimo Rao,detail from 'Poeta rimasto senza parole',1993,oil on canvas - illustrated front panel of dw/dj,with capitalised,white-lettered author's name and black-lettered title to front panel of dw/dj,spine/backstrip ubiquitously sunned/faded with author's capitalised,black lettered name and capitalised,white-lettered title and publisher's white illustrated colophon to foot of same,rear panel with with coloured background of painting with no detail. Negligible shelf-wear,bumping, creasing to edges and corners – no nicks,tears or splits present.Internally to dw/dj the lower edges of rear,inner flap,the rear,lower edge of panel and to foot of spine/backstrip,there's an indetermiate fluid stain with dye bleed,from board's concomitant areas to the dw/dj,the stain being visible only on the exterior of the rear inside flap.Top+fore-edges generally clean but with faint dust-flecking to top edges and a couple of small blemishes to fore-edges but no usual foxing/spotting; contents are virtually pristine,as bright,tight,clean,solid and sound - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corner tips,appears unread,other than my own collation. Publisher's bright, crisp,clean - slight dulling of stain area on rear board's lower edge notwithstanding - sharp-cornered,original plain maroon cloth boards with bright,crisp,blocked gilt lettered spine/backstrip, and immaculate plain pale beige endpapers.UK,8vo HB +dw/dj,1st edn,3-206pp [paginated] includes 8 parts/sections and [unpaginated] 9pp of illustrated musical score with musical notation as last pages; plus [unpaginated] half-title+title pages,a dedication, a Thanks page,a prose extract from (Oxford Lectures on Poetry: Professor Bradley: 1901),a Contents list/table - the latter 3pp each with a blank verso,individual parts/sections titled separator pages,each also with a blank verso,and to the rear 2pp blanks. Visually the exterior appearance is more than acceptable,and particularly internally,the book is in an exceptional condition/state of preservation and presentation for a book of its 29-year-old age. It is only the minimal faults described that prevents a slightly higher grading overall.Despite them,it really is still an acceptable copy for its cleanliness and brightness - fluid stain notwithstanding. ART & LIES is a question and a quest.Three voices brought together in a single place in a single day. Handel, Picasso, Sappho (which ones?),each separate through the structure of their language,all united through the structure of the book (which one?) ART & LIES has musical power; its events,emotions,thoughts and moral forces are brought into collision and directed towards a single end that is linked to the unfamiliar beginning with satisfying inevitability. ART & LIES is a rich book,bawdy and beautiful,shocking because of its beauty,an antidote against the numbness of modern life. ART & LIES is a dangerous book,banked with ides forced out of the twords themselves,not words for things,but words that are living things with the power to move. Please contact seller for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! N.B. ALL buyers please note,that stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of any inexpensive book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **